carloscar27 :
From the research I've done so far, it seems as if everyone is saying that GTX 1080's are performing pretty much equally when it comes to overclocking and average fps? Besides the Founders Edition that is.. So is it a preference in brands, cooling, and what is aesthetically pleasing to each person? If I'm not mistaken this also includes water cooled GTX 1080's.
Tough question to answer as it depends how its farmed. We have many folks looking at GPUz, seeing the max clock they get and thinking that all cards are doing the same thing. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reference cards are all throttling. So yes, they may all peak at the same OC, they just can not maintain the same OC. You and I both start a 1 mile race.... we both maintain the same pace and at the 1/4 mile point, I'm a bit overheated and start slowing down... speeding up...slowing down while you maintain a steady pace... who wins ?
http://videocardz.com/60838/msi-geforce-gtx-1080-gaming-x-is-much-better-than-founders-edition
NVIDIA’s own reference design suffers from severe throttling just after few minutes. It probably wouldn’t be that bad if not the frequency spikes. While average clock is somewhere around officially stated boost clock, those spikes cause micro-stuttering, which negatively affects gaming experience.
Hardware.info:
Founders Edition suffers from a horrendous amount of throttling and it runs +- 150 MHz lower all the time.
Meanwhile, MSI GTX 1080 GAMING X generates almost a straight line for GPU frequency (~1910 MHz), with no spikes and rather constant sub-70 C temperature. This should mean that the gaming experience will be much better, and card should theoretically generate better results in most tests. Also according to H.I. this is also the best custom design they so far tested
That underlined part is the "crux of the biscuit" as Zappa would have said. "Average" does not include the effect of all those spikes from throttling
A picture speaks a 1,000 words ... which one you want ... the orange line or the blue line ?
Lets look at temps....
Idle temperatures are excellent, which is no wonder since the fans don't stop in idle. During gaming, the [reference] card goes above 82°C, which results in lower clocks due to Boost 3.0; see our Boost 3.0 Analysis for more details.
Idle temperatures are excellent even with the fans turning off in idle. During gaming, the [non-reference] card also runs much cooler than the reference design, which avoids clock throttling above 82°C.
Which one you want ? The one that is throttling at stock settings or the one you can't get near the throttling point even at max OC
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Gaming_X/23.html
The reference card produces 37 dbA at load ...
The non-reference card produces 31 dbA at load ...
You want the one that produces 31 dbA or ya want the one that is
60% louder ?
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1080_Gaming_X/27.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_1080/30.html
The reference card produces 137.3 fps, 154.4 fps OC'd.
The non-reference card produces 147.7 fps (7.6% faster) , 159.5 (3.3 % faster) Oc'd
The card tested is $720 ... if we ignore the law of diminishing returns and just look at the PC advantage, the alternate card would have to be less than $696 ... the reference card is $749.
So, again, ignoring the law of diminishing returns where being 3% better typically results in t least a 6% increase in price.... what do we lose by getting the cheaper card at say $680 ? ... for our $16 extra, we get:
- a card that never throttles
- a card that isn't 60% louder
- a card that runs cooler
- a card that is guaranteed to operate 7.6% faster
- a card with more features (preset overclock modes
- a card for which the fans turn off in idle.
I'd pay $16 for any of those items.
Now if we revise the question to which reference card, thats a whole 'nother conversation. Here we have a problem in that very few sites are doing throttling test... it takes time and effort. So we really don't have a way of knowing. We see that the Asus Strix manages almost 2 fps faster ? Do we rack that up to ...
- Silicon lottery
- Later drivers
- Vagaries in testing
- An actual design advantages
I have seen it reported as low as $679 but each place I looked it was selling at $720.
At this time, vendors are taking advantage of consumers need for "instant gratification" ... rather than which card to buy, the more important question is when. Rushing out to get the cheapest card today will soon prove that the premium you pay for getting it early will exceed any price premium you pay for buying better.
Buying the cheapest one you can find is not a good idea in anything ... just as most EVGA 750 watt PSUs will deliver 750 watts, there is a difference between the B1, B2, G2 and P2. You just have to decide is the difference is worth it to you.
As for water cooling, if you want quiet , it's a sound choice. Not a CLC mind you, I'm talking real water block. So yes, you could spend
$720 on an MSI Gaming X
$750 on a MSI GaminG Seahawk CLC
$810 on a MSI Seahawk EX X
Since all will eliminate the throttling problem, it's hard to find a reason to spend more...all other things being equal (and not saying they are), being 40C below the throttling point, 20C below the throttling point or 10C below the throttling point all result in the same thing ... no throttling. As long as you don't have a reference card, you won't throttle. The Seahwak EK X makes a great choice however combined with Swiftech AIO if you want a quiet system.
If you are satisfied with a card that delivers an "average fps" comparable to everything else, buy the cheapest card. If you want a card that consistently delivers the best possible fps with no spikes or stuttering, pay attention to what you are buying. That being said, it's hard to say there's a bad choice among the well known "gaming cards" (Strix, Gaming X, G1, HOF, AMP, etc) ... with the 980 Ti, there was a + or - 3.5% swing between the best and worse cards ... this time I think we'll see half that.
What I am anxious to see is how the the "light" cards perform. The MSI Amor uses the same PCB as the Gaming X... just not the OC presets (AFAIK). The cards are priced $20 or so apart so, at this point, I don't see that there is anything to make me want to pay the $20 and I don't see that web sites will want to take the time to test 6 or 8 cards from the same series from each manufacturer.
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